REJOINDER TO COA’s REPORT in WP ( C )
1163/2017 IN SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
The Committee
of Administrators (COA) Dated:
14/11/2018
Board of
Control for Cricket in India
Mumbai -
400020
Subject: Continuing Colossal Fraud through Cricket
Reference: 1. Report dated 22/10/2018 by committee of
administrators in
terms of Hon’ble Supreme Court’s order
dated 7/5/2018 in
Writ Petition (Civil) No. 1163 of 2017
2. Writ Petition (Civil) No. 1163
of 2017 and I.A.’s no.
13606/2018
and 59570/2018
Dear Sir/Madam,
It is with sense of an acute pain that I have to say the
following in reference to above.
It can be well understood that it is next to impossible for
COA / BCCI to publicly accept the concept of Cricket being a colossal
institutional fraud, especially when one of the two members of the Committee
herself is an ex-cricketer, but then Truth will have to be faced square in the
face at some point of time. Then why not do it earlier than later? Can someone
come along and just declare that gravitation didn’t exist on earth? COA have
done something like that in their report. As some recent developments suggest,
time is fast approaching when it will become more and more difficult for the
cricketing world to hide from the truth. One expected a much better, more
objective, and meaningful report from the man of stature that the present Head
of COA is, especially since no one else has shown much interest in curbing this
nation damaging fraud. It may be appropriate to call it a continuing national
disaster. But the COA, to use Churchill’s words, have acted as men of straw, at
best.
The peculiarity of cricket fixing is that those who are
supposed to curb it and act as authority on the subject don’t know or
understand much about it since they don’t know much about betting, session betting, and bracket betting; whereas scripting of
matches and fixing is governed by all such betting – the same being the very
purpose of it. Most of cricket journalists and sports editors would also fall
in that category. It is for this reason that while those in authority remain
ignorant or unconcerned, many among bettors are becoming aware of cricket being
an institutionalized fraud slowly but surely through my books and Facebook page
of Bettors Beware.
Apart from session betting, the matches are scripted with
timing of wickets and partnerships to ensure movement of betting odds in
matches in a way such as to trap the punters and maximize profits for the betting
mafia. It is for this reason that we come across sudden flurry of wickets
followed by long partnerships or vice versa, or totally one sided matches
between two equally capable teams happening quite often. The wickets tumble and
partnerships blossom against run of play for this very reason. This has been
illustrated and explained for many matches in my books and the Facebook page of
Bettors Beware earlier on. I don’t do it much now because of its repetitive
nature. No doubt, now and then a few matches are scripted to make punters win
and feel happy to keep them going and trapped.
It is rather strange that most of the people, especially
cricket journalists, don’t realize a very elementary thing, that spot-fixing –
as the session fixing is popularly called - does imply match-fixing also. Whole
has to be a function of its parts.
I could have appreciated if COA had expressed helplessness in
tackling the fraud given how monstrous it has become, as they did during the
meeting with us, rather than foolishly, haughtily, and deceitfully denying its
very existence in the report now without being able to counter a single piece
of evidence out of all the evidence brought out in the petition. Why did Sh.
Vinod Rai repeatedly tell us during the meeting that they shared our concerns
if all along he had decided that the petition was bunkum? Would he please
explain this? Is it not clear that COA have been under some compulsions now to
give such a shabby, dreadful and deceitful report on such a grave matter?
This rejoinder to the subject report by COA will bring out
how COA have gone back on their words (that is the trigger for my anger), how
they have overlooked all the evidence that was before them, to suit themselves,
and how they have been wilfully misleading. It will also bring out some recent
international developments that further confirm the contents of the
petition. This rejoinder is also being
made with a hope that the COA will heed my request and will duly review their
decision and report in the light of contents of this rejoinder.
I am aware that this rejoinder would sound repetitive at many
places. But there is no harm in being repetitive; rather it is required to be
so, when those being addressed have shown themselves to be morons.
The above report by the COA is not only extremely
disappointing, but also shocking.
It is shocking because I don’t find anywhere in this report
even mention of two specific things that the COA explicitly promised when they
met with us, the petitioners, at New Delhi on 17th July 2017. One,
they promised investigation of the IPL-10 final by ACSU of BCCI, even though I
wanted it to be done by outside agencies independent of BCCI. Two, on my
request of getting the twitter handle @theDcricket duly questioned &
investigated to ascertain what was going on behind the curtains, Sh. Vinod Rai,
the Head of COA mentioned that they would do better than that. He assured that
they would recommend to the Hon’ble Supreme Court to get him investigated. That
gave me a ray of hope since this twitter handle is very clearly an insider who
knows all about the script of matches across the world from T – 20 leagues to
international matches, as his hundreds of tweets for over a year make
abundantly clear. He must be knowing all about the scripting and fixing of
matches, maybe many times more than the underground Aneel Munawar. He is
available in the open. And yet while ICC is hunting for or feigning to be hunting
for untraceable Aneel Munawar, they have been acting blind to the existence of @theDcricket
and his tweets, in-spite of their and COA’s attention having been drawn
repeatedly by me to this fact. I find
this bizarre. Turning a blind eye to the tweets of @theDcricket
conspicuously shows the complicity of ICC, BCCI and now even COA / BCCI in the
continuing fraud that the game of cricket has become. It is akin to the police when
faced with a murder, turning a blind eye to existence of a key witness who had seen
it all and knew all about it, and whose existence is well known to the world.
The fact that this open ignorance comes after the COA having explicitly
suggested the opposite in our meeting (as confirmed by the brief minutes of the
meeting e-mailed by me to the COA on 17/7/2018) brings to question the
earnestness and integrity of the committee. That email is reproduced below
verbatim:
Atul Kumar
Tue 17/07/2018, 15:32
Committee
of Administrators;
Rahul
Johri;
Karina
Kripalani;
shantanunewshound@gmail.com
This
is to convey thanks for holding the meeting today and to put the outcome of the meeting
in a perspective (in confidence).
It
was disappointing to learn that the purpose of this meeting was primarily only
to hear us out and the meeting was not to be much interactive as COA was
not to apprise us of their viewpoint. However, still the following
transpired as a result of brief discussion that took place:
1. COA indicated that it would recommend
to the Hon'ble Court to order thorough investigation into the tweets by
@theDcricket for over a year now. Though it is extremely unfortunate that
such an action has not yet been initiated by the concerned authorities, we
applaud the indicated action by the COA. An honest and thorough
interrogation/investigation of him/his affairs would definitely help spill
many beans and many skeletons will come out of the cupboard. That alone will be
a significant step in the right direction.
2. COA indicated that they were as
concerned about the state of affairs as us, the petitioners. Though they felt
that the solutions suggested by us were rather impractical. We maintain that
the solutions suggested, though may appear to be extra-ordinary, were
necessitated considering how bad things were and given the very grave and serious
implications of how things are continuing.
3. Nevertheless we requested that COA
might please go ahead with practical solutions such that the action
taken should have some telling effect given how wrong things had gone, at least
to make a significant start.
4. To that effect, it was suggested to get
the IPL 10 final that was under shadow for fixing as detailed in the Writ
Petition to be investigated in a transparent manner by the Police/concerned
authorities, with public knowledge so that a message goes out to restore
some of the public confidence. But BCCI officials wanted the investigation to
be by ACU in a confidential manner. The COA appeared to be agreeing to that. We
still feel that such an investigation may not serve much purpose and there was
a stronger possibility of things being swept under the carpet in due
course with an in house investigation by BCCI. The COA may kindly take final
call in this regard.
5. The COA indicated their inclination
to strengthen ACU and to put a strong ACU in place to instill fear in the minds
of evil-doers. This was welcome, reiterating that implementation and putting
the ACU to effective use were more necessary, mere making of regulations
without implementation didn't mean much as the past results/present state of
affairs showed.
6. The meeting ended on a rather positive
note, giving us hope that something effective and good may eventually come
out of it in the larger public and collective national interest.
It
is requested that the COA while submitting their report to the Hon'ble Supreme Court
in terms of their order dated 7/5/18 in WP ( C ) 1163/2017 may also please
convey the
inputs/suggestions
given by me earlier in deference to the COA's desire, to the Hon'ble Supreme
Court with/without COA's comments as deemed fit.
Regards
Atul Kumar
This mail and its contents were not made public by me till
date since I had felt that COA won’t like it to be so, but I am compelled to do
so now. This record goes a long way in calling the bluff of the subject report
by COA.
The twitter handle @theDcricket (Cricket Insider) hasn’t been
someone who only makes predictions about outcome of a match that may come true
or may go wrong. Anyone in the street can do that. COA didn’t need to tell me
/us that. @theDcricket has not only been making predictions but has been
claiming a number of matches being fixed and his having confirmed information
on the scripts of matches. He openly says he has to pay for getting information
and it is money that makes all the merry go round in the world of cricket. He
gives inside information not only about outcome of matches but also on session
scores. And it is not for one or two matches but has been going on for hundreds
of matches for over a year. It is a matter of record that even my specific complaints
to the concerned authorities on this count have fetched nothing. There is
nothing new in my mentioning this now since this all has been detailed in the
writ petition 1163/ 2017 and additional documents submitted during course of
that petition. It is rather unfortunate and a waste of my time and energies
that I have to repeat it all here. Repetition has become necessary to bring
home the point that it was in the background of these material facts that COA
promised as they did to recommend to the Hon’ble Supreme Court to get
@theDcricket thoroughly questioned and investigated. Though reasons for not
mentioning of this in the above report now despite above background will be
best known to COA, the fact does put a big question mark on the intentions and integrity
of the COA themselves. The hundreds of tweets by @theDcricket for over a year
have been so revealing and so clear an evidence for institutionalized fixing of
cricket matches (if one had slightest mind and could apply it) that these
render anything else said / work done or anything that will be said or done to
tell that cricket was institutionally fixed redundant. One will understand the
import of this if one went through hundreds of his tweets, some of which were also documented in the petition and additional documents. A
very few recent ones are reproduced below for ready reference:
Pinned Tweet
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These are only some sample random tweets out of hundreds of such or even
more telling tweets. He has been tweeting and charging money for giving prior
information about scripts of almost all T 20 leagues across the world including
Indian TNPL, KPL, and IPL. By his own account more than 2000 people are paying him
to get prior information about matches from him. The information given by him
is often astonishingly right. After having promised in the meeting that they
would recommend to Supreme Court to get him investigated, COA now suddenly
summarily dismissed in passing that all this meant nothing and concluded that
it was only a case of some predictions coming true by chance.
Acting complete blind to these explosive tweets for over a
year, the world has been moving on continuing to celebrate an open and blatant
fraud as a competitive sport. Didn’t these tweets call for a high level
thorough investigation long ago?
It is true that Sh. Vinod Rai, ex- CAG of India and now Head
of COA is a retired seasoned bureaucrat of great stature and repute who himself
had exposed a massive public scam. It is precisely for this reason that the
subject report becomes more disappointing and shocking. And these are the times
when even top officials of CBI have been repeatedly coming under cloud and none
other than ex-CJI was publicly charged of corruption and misdeeds. Questions
were publicly raised on his working by none other than a few Supreme Court
Judges – the current CJI being one of them. Therefore it would be prudent to
concentrate on the facts rather than statures and reputations. And hundreds of
those involved in the colossal fraud that cricket is, are celebrities and
men/women of great stature and repute. The media personalities perpetrating
this fraud and keeping the truth under wraps for years have no less stature. All
this lies well substantiated through the petition and documents annexed
therewith.
The subject report does betray lack of sense of truth, sense
of responsibility, and application of mind on the part of COA. Not only that,
wilful distortion of facts and mentioning those out of context with clever
manipulation to run-down the petition is glaring at places (as explained in
following paras). I wonder why COA had to resort to it. Why could they not deal
with the momentous issue at hand honestly? Through their report, COA have not
only insulted the petitioners, the hard work put in by them for years in order
to expose and deal with a going-on massive public fraud with very grave
national and international implications, and the momentous sense of the petition that goes much beyond
cricket, have not only betrayed millions of honest cricket lovers, but to my
mind have also insulted the intelligence and professional acumen of the bench
of the Hon’ble Supreme Court that dealt with this petition.
The COA have charged now in this report for the first time
that broad, sweeping, and unsubstantiated allegations to the effect that all
cricket matches are scripted have been made in the petition. I do wonder if
that were the case, would the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India and the bench of
three judges comprising of CJI have had entertained such a frivolous petition
and not fined or punished the petitioners? Not only did the Hon’ble Court
entertain the petition, passed a meaningful order, but they also invited the
petitioners to assist the Court in the main case concerning BCCI. Would any
Court, and above all, the Supreme Court of India, do so if the petition
contained unsubstantiated sweeping allegations, that too involving who’s who of
the country?
I am sure the Hon’ble Court would have expected the COA to
apply mind in depth, and labour intensively to address the contents of the
petition considering the gravity of what had been put forth, before they
submitted their report. But as their report suggests and as would become
abundantly clear from what follows they chose to be superficial and casual at
best. I do understand that it would not have been easy for them to comprehend
the harsh reality (if they were not in the know already), if so they could
interact freely with me to understand what was what as far as our grievances
and contents of the petition were concerned, but they chose to be formal and
bureaucratic rather than being governed by a sense and desire to deliver in the
larger public interest. They failed to appreciate that a PIL was more a matter
of public interest than being something legal. To me, it is either COA’s
incomprehension of reality or wilful attempt to mislead the Court and the world
that manifests itself in the subject report of the COA as we have seen and
would see further. The latter appears to be the more likely case since COA have
conspicuously acted dishonestly.
Is not it outright dishonest and cowardly for the COA and
BCCI to say so in their report now behind the back of the petitioners that
broad, sweeping, and unsubstantiated allegations to the effect that all cricket
matches are scripted have been made in the petition? If it were so, why did COA
hold a meeting with us? Why did they not mention so in their first email to me?
On the contrary in their communication with me they categorically stated that
extremely important issues had been raised by me/us. Why did they not tell us
so in the meeting that the petition contained sweeping and unsubstantiated
allegations? Had they given such an indication as to what they thought, we could have tried to explain or
requested for another meeting to explain in detail. On the contrary, Mr Vinod
Rai repeatedly told that they shared our concerns. Our concerns had clearly
been nothing but institutionalized fixing of cricket and its implications. I
got the indication of their helplessness in dealing with the problem as it was.
What was the need or sense to ask for suggestions from and discuss with those
who had irresponsibly made some sweeping allegations? Why did COA not ask us
how did we mean that cricket was such a colossal fraud as had been brought out
in the petition, rather than asking for our suggestions? Do not the earlier
actions of COA themselves contradict what they have said now in the subject
report? Could sweeping and unsubstantiated allegations on one hand, and raising
of extremely important issues on the other hand, go together? Is not it clear
that COA have given the subject report under some duress / compulsions rather
than a sense of truth and honest responsibility?
BCCI became a party to the petition by filing a caveat and
were duly served copies of the petition and additional documents submitted
subsequently. It had renowned senior advocates and a top law firm of the
country at its disposal to represent it versus a common man - petitioner no. 1.
If the petition contained sweeping unsubstantiated allegations as has been
mentioned by the COA now, why did BCCI not bring it out before the Court when
the petition was under its consideration and before the Court passed the
subject order? Surely BCCI couldn’t know what order the Hon’ble Court would
pass in the absence of any counter from them. What fear did BCCI have? What did
it have to hide from public glare? Why were petitioners not taken to task
before the Court for having made unsubstantiated sweeping allegations? Won’t it
have been correct to resolve the issue in the open Court rather than COA
passing unilateral cowardly judgement now sitting in office? Do COA not understand that their saying now
that the petition contained broad and sweeping unsubstantiated allegations has
no sanctity whatsoever and it only shows COA and BCCI in poor light? If the
petition contained sweeping unsubstantiated allegations, BCCI must have told
this to the Hon’ble Supreme Court when the petition was being heard by them
duly substantiating their claim and countering the averments that had been made
in the petition. Countering of those averments does require and did require
tearing to pieces all the evidence and arguments that had been submitted in the
petition, one by one. Even in the
subject report, made after months with all the cricket experts and legal
luminaries at their disposal, COA have not been able to counter a single piece
of evidence. Leave alone countering, they didn’t have courage enough even
to mention and list the evidence furthered in the petition in their report.
The bottom line is that the petition didn’t contain sweeping
and unsubstantiated allegations. Whatever was brought out in the petition was
painstakingly substantiated by facts, documents, and application of mind. Two
books bringing out a lot of facts in support were submitted with the original
petition and further two books were submitted with the additional documents. In fact, the statement of COA that the
petition contained sweeping and unsubstantiated allegations itself is a highly
irresponsible and sweeping statement totally unsubstantiated. While
concluding so, COA have very conveniently picked just a few facts and mentions
by me / us out of context and distorted those to state what suited them and
BCCI. They have miserably failed to apply mind and go to the depth of the
matter as was expected of them.
COA have stated that no reliable material was placed before them
which would lead to the rather drastic conclusion that all cricket is a massive
fraud on the public. As stated above, a lot of material including 2+2 books had
been placed detailing how and why this not only drastic but unimaginable and
almost incomprehensible conclusion became essential. To arrive at this
conclusion didn’t give any pleasure to the petitioners. Rather they would have
been delighted if they were wrong. It is regard for Truth and application of
common sense that makes this conclusion essential as has been amply brought out
in our submissions and as we would see again in subsequent paras.
Here I would like the COA also to understand and appreciate
that whether all matches are fixed, almost all matches are fixed, most of the
matches are fixed, a majority of matches are fixed, or a large number of
matches are fixed, or a few matches are fixed here or there, it has
implications regarding institutionalized fixing of cricket as long as no one is
or has been taken to task for fixing in such matches on the initiative of the
cricket administration. And that precisely is the case. A number of matches reported to have been fixed remain unexplained with
no action having been taken against players who played in those fixed matches.
On the contrary, whenever the issue has been raised by those outside cricket
administration, the cricket administration has been swift to rubbish it and
brush it under the carpet. Latest Aljazeera report as would be brought out in
subsequent paras is a burning example in case. Even when M S Dhoni was reported
to have lied under oath in Gurunath Meyappan Case, he continued to be Indian
captain even thereafter. Didn’t that mean mockery of the establishment?
It was for BCCI to counter the material placed before the
Court to show that the material was not reliable and all bunkum which was never
done. If it were argued out in the open Court, the petitioners could bring out
the reality more clearly and forcefully in full public glare. BCCI are now trying to have the cake and eat it too. They have let the
opportunity, to counter the contents of the petition and averments made, in the
Court go for some pertinent reasons and now COA are trying to crush truth
passing dictatorial judgements. Even now COA have made a sweeping statement betraying
authoritarianism with no attempt to logically counter the material placed
before the Court and available to them. This sweeping statement contradicts
even what COA themselves have stated elsewhere in the report. In para 2 at numbered page 2 COA have stated
that petitioners believe (the use of word ‘believe’ is inappropriate and
mischievous) such a conclusion stands mathematically and scientifically proved
in the book ‘Bettors Beware’. They have conveniently forgot and overlooked to
mention that the scientific proof had been got examined and found credible by a
sports editor of a very prestigious English daily, and was now time tested.
Without bothering to tell the world/ the Court why and how that mathematical
proof was not relevant and amounted only to someone’s belief, they have
dictatorially stated that no reliable material was placed before them. It is
just one such instance.
COA would have done well to understand that the scientific
and mathematical proof mentioned by them and as mentioned by them is not
something brought out anew in the petition. It has been in existence publicly
duly reported in media courtesy PTI for years and has also directly been
conveyed to BCCI and ICC years ago. It was for the ICC, cricketers or cricket
administration, or even for someone from public to counter and challenge it
there and then. The continued silence of the world over this for years has
already vindicated same. Even now without countering it, COA had the temerity
to say that no reliable material was there in the petition?
The COA have very shabbily, superficially, insufficiently and
misleadingly summarised the contents of the petition in a small para 2
mentioned above to suit themselves. While the platform for detailed discussions
and arguments on the contents of the petition was the Court and that never
happened since the content was never countered in the least by BCCI or UOI in
the Court, I would briefly list a few pertinent and important things already
well documented in the petition and additional documents submitted (in addition
to the continuing tweets by @theDcricket as already brought out above),
off-hand from memory here which COA have conveniently overlooked or not
mentioned or not bothered to explain before making highly irresponsible
sweeping unsubstantiated statements and passing unilateral judgements:
1. 1. If
all is so well and above board with cricket administration – BCCI and ICC – how
is it that same Shashank Manohar, presently chairman of ICC, who publicly demanded CBI inquiry into all
matches of IPL – 2013 forgot all about it when he himself became President of
BCCI thereafter and even ICC chairman subsequently? Was he irresponsible in
demanding the CBI enquiry or was he irresponsible afterwards? If he was
irresponsible in demanding the inquiry, how come such a person became President
BCCI thereafter and has been chairman, ICC for two terms? How come no one else
from the cricketing world or media has ever questioned such a funny behaviour
of the top most official for cricket administration in the world, leaving the
same to poor commoners like Atul Kumar? In the absence of any plausible
explanation to such behaviour, doesn’t it show that there is something grossly
wrong with the top cricket administrators?
2. 2, The
Cricket Insider @theDcricket tweeted a number of very peculiar predictions
(detailed in the petition) before IPL–10 final in 2017 as to who would score
how many runs, or hit how many sixes, or how teams will score and win/lose
which proved true to the hilt except for
one regarding some run-rate. Could there be any other explanation for that
under the sun other than that the IPL – 10 final was fixed and scripted
beforehand? The only other explanation could be that the tweets were made after
the match and doctored / engineered to look as if those had been made
beforehand, but nothing of the sort ever came out or was explained by the
authorities. No one was ever taken up for making such doctored tweets and
misguide and mislead the public. All have only maintained a deafening silence
on it till date. Was it not imperative for BCCI / IPL Governing Council to
respond when these prophetic tweets were reported in and by responsible media?
Doesn’t the silence of all concerned -
the Shastris, the Gavaskars, the Pontings, the Laras, the Sehwags – the cricket
world - alone amply show that cricket is an institutionalized fraud with
complicity of all concerned? And now even COA have apparently backtracked on
their promise/inclination to get this match investigated even in-house.
3. . 3. It
was none other than an ex- Pakistani captain Amir Sohail who during Champions
Trophy last year (that was eventually won by Pakistan defeating India in the
final) publicly asked Sarfraz Nawaz, the Pakistani captain, in a sudden
spontaneous outburst, that he should not let his team winning go to his head
since the match results were governed by outside forces – something to that
effect. None of that was doing of a commoner like Atul Kumar. Why has the
cricket world remained silent on that? Why has no one been able to explain what
that outburst meant?
4. 4. An
ex-international Australian cricketer, and one who had participated in
Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), Dirk Nannes, came on record recently to tell
the world that fixing and fishy things happened in BPL matches, team
managements also being involved. Why has ICC and cricketing world been silent
about it if cricket was not an institutionalized fraud?
5. 5. It
was not someone from the street but another ex-Pakistani cricketer and captain,
Rashid Latif, who years ago explained through an article titled ‘How Cricket
Matches are Scripted’ how session scoring showed scripting of the matches and
how matches were scripted to manipulate session scoring. What is the
explanation of COA to the contents of that article (copy of which lies annexed
with the petition)? Why has the cricketing world been silent on it all these
years?
6. 6. Have
COA fully understood the mechanics of session betting and bracket betting
before concluding that session scoring meant and indicated nothing? What is the
explanation of COA to tens of specific instances from all sorts of matches over
the years illustrated in the documents submitted with or referred in the
petition to show how correlation between session betting and plays in the field
showed institutionalized fixing of matches? These have not been vague or
theoretical narrations but specific instances from real-time matches.
7. 7. Why
have COA overlooked the fact of confirmation by an internationally acclaimed
betting expert, Edward Hawkins, that the patterns of session scoring as occurred
were not possible without scripting and fixing of matches? He understood when
things were explained to him briefly.
8. 8. Earth
revolves round Sun and Sun rises in the East are scientific facts. These facts
stand out not because some Court decided these to be so. These are facts that
no human being in senses can deny. Similarly theory of probability also doesn’t
have any subjectivity and is a science. It doesn’t depend on whims or
judgements of any individuals. Petitioners would have welcomed if COA had been
able to find loopholes in the claim of scientific proof in the book ‘Bettors
Beware’ which they have mentioned. Even while acknowledging existence of a
scientific proof, they have concluded that no reliable material was available.
How bizarre and what a contradiction! That too when the proof of this
scientific evidence having been got examined and found credible by a veteran
sports editor was readily submitted in the petition. The same got corroborated
again and again by a lot other evidence also, some of which has been listed
above and some will follow.
9. 9. COA
have miserably failed to apply and address themselves to the contents of the
chapter ‘Large Scale Fixing Gets Established but All look the Other Way’ in the
book ‘Bettors Beware’. This relates with the fixing episode during IPL-6 in
2013 involving Sreesanth and others. It was clear as explained in this chapter
that a good number of batsmen, and some very big international names like Adam
Gilchrist as a batsman, and Rahul Dravid as a captain of the bowling team had
to be involved in those incidences of fixing termed as spot-fixing and widely
reported in the media. Why has cricketing world been silent on this fact? Why
has media been silent? Why have many of those cricketers continued to play or
act as coaches, and were never questioned? Does the fact of everyone continuing
to look the other way even today not announce existence and continuation of an
institutionalized fraud? How come without even any attempt to counter that
irrefutable logic, COA arrived at a conclusion that no material evidence was
available? Have COA not been conspicuously despotic?
1 10. It has been reported that Mudgal
report brought out the fact of one Javed Chutani, a Dawood aide, routinely
opening rates for betting in cricket matches to key bookies in some south-east
Asian countries. Nothing else but Mudgal report contains that ‘Chutani
was sure what would happen in a match and rates were opened accordingly.’
What is the explanation of COA to this if it didn’t establish institutionalized
fixing of cricket?
1 11. The book ‘Fixed! Cash and Corruption in Cricket’ is a book of non-fiction
written by an eminent awarded journalist Shantanu Guha Ray and published by a
reputed publisher Harper Collins in early 2016. It brings out a lot which still
awaits explanation from the cricketing world, and the authorities. But all have
been silent as if this book and its contents didn’t exist. There is more than
enough in this book that tells one of continuing large scale fixing and
corruption in cricket. What is the explanation of COA to the contents of this
book when they claimed not to have found any reliable material placed before
them? If cricket was not an institutionalized fraud why had all been keeping
quiet on this book? Why were investigations not taking place based on the
contents of this book?
I can go on and on if I started mentioning how specific
matches over the years were nothing but fixed and scripted cricket, as has
already been brought out in my books and posts on the Facebook page of Bettors
Beware. All that forms content of the petition. Here I have listed only a few
points off-hand (that are already detailed in the petition with necessary
documentary evidence) without having gone through the petition that
should make sense to any intelligent mind that the COA had at best acted
irresponsibly in making and submitting the subject report. To my mind, each and
every one of the above points is independently sufficient to establish that
cricket today is an institutionalized fraud or at least to raise a genuine
question to that effect. COA have
not bothered to address or explain any of these and considered it prudent to
say that petition was all bunkum and nonsense. I do hope that the COA will realize their foolishness and
foolhardiness at least now. The complete petition and additional documents
submitted contain a lot more material not only to substantiate the averments
made but also to make one understand what is what. It is really strange and
most unfortunate that the COA
preferred to go with the common pre-conceived notion and decided that they
couldn’t accept that all cricket was part of a massive on-going fraud without
applying mind to the contents of the petition.
The COA have not only been foolish and foolhardy, but they
have also been mischievous and misleading in their report by wilfully
concealing a lot and distorting some other content of the petition. In para 9
b) at numbered page 9 of their report the COA have attempted to totally
trivialize a laboriously detailed petition - totally substantiated as above
glimpses would have conveyed to any intelligent mind - by conveying to the
world as if the petition was mainly based on nothing but a foolish logic that
if someone made some off-hand correct prediction then that meant the match was
fixed. I do wonder what made COA to try to mislead the world through such
blatant falsehood and misrepresentation of the contents of the petition.
Similarly in para 9 a) they have tried to convey as if stray underperformance
by world-class players or unexpected scoring in some sessions were the main
reasons furthered by the petitioners to jump at conclusion of cricket matches
being fixed. There could be nothing farther from the truth and COA must be
knowing how misleading they have been. COA have summarised the content of the
petition their own way out of context and distorting its sense and essence,
excluding everything which conveyed the essence of what was said. The above
were never mentioned as proof but were stated differently and in more detail
with scores of supporting examples in the documents submitted or referred, only
to bring home how an alert viewer could also see fixing taking place straight
away without having to go into details of mathematical evidence.
I do repeat that wilful underperformance by cricketers in all
departments of the game i.e. bowling, batting or fielding, especially highly
trained and experienced bowlers (since batting outcome and underperformance may
be explained away to have been a function of the ball received, but a bowler can
bowl how he likes independent of anything else) is too conspicuous at times in all matches day and night – once one understood
it. Fielding lapses also may be explained as momentary lapse of concentration,
and that may definitely happen so naturally at times, but very often such
lapses are too blatant to get explained. Many times performances are termed as
‘inexplicable’ by commentators also. And yet we know that everything man-made
does have an explanation. The plays in the field are very often so
inexplicable, unnatural, and absurd that even house-wives can and do see through
the scripted cricket. For example, wilful crawl by set batsmen in slog overs of
limited overs matches has no explanation other than that it was done for
non-cricketing reasons. This is what was meant to be explained in the petition
and to the COA while conveying my suggestions to them, in this regard.
It is repeated that these narrations have never been meant to
be the evidence and were necessary to make one understand and appreciate the
overall scenario. It could not be that cricket was institutionally fixed and
yet there was no manifestation of same in the field. The bad and wrong
intentions of COA become too obvious by the fact that while they have quoted
out of context and distorted such narrations, painting such distortions to be
the essence of petition, they have conveniently skipped to even mention many
irrefutable pieces of evidence in the petition before declaring to the world
that the petition was nothing but bunkum non-sense. And the million dollar question remains, why did every one remain silent
in the Court if petition was all bunkum?
While COA have discovered that there was no reliable material
before them to conclude that all cricket was part of a massive ongoing fraud on
the public; I reproduce below excerpts from a very recent article in The
Statesman dated 11/11/2018 titled ‘When
you have a lot of money, you needn’t be a stickler for probity’ by Mr
Pulakesh Mukhopadhyay. The article was in the aftermath of the recent tweet by
Gautam Gambhir against inviting Mohammad Azharuddin to ring the bell to get the
India-West Indies T 20 international at the Eden Gardens on 4/11/2018 going and
response to that by a CAB heavyweight saying that Gambhir had better shut up
given that he had long been in the Indian Premier League with its make-believe cricket.
“………… Well might
Gambhir too have his own riposte to the IPL jibe but, when you come to think of
it, global sport, rich and powerful, had got, long before this Indian
barb-trading, to a point where it could be seen and felt to have out-grown both
probity and even the illusion of it. A
conveyor-belt supply of evidence will fill up encyclopaedias galore, if
attempted…….”. Mr Pulakesh Mukhopadyay is veteran sports editor of the
Statesman. He is no relative of mine.
Since BCCI have posted this unilateral dictatorial report of COA on their website without posting the contents
of the referred petition, it becomes crystal clear that COA
have acted so mischievously to mislead not only the Hon’ble Supreme Court but
also the public and the world, and thus to sub serve the interests of the
fraudsters and the mafia.
Fate acts beyond the wildest imaginations of man and Truth
has its own way of seizing up with Falsehood. As luck would have it, the
biggest ever expose yet by some journalists on fixing in cricket ( https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/10/exclusive-spot-fixes-15-international-cricket-matches-181020142431726.html ) was probably just waiting for the
COA to finalize the subject report that was to summarily dismiss much
wrong-doing in cricket and show the petitioners in poor light despite
overwhelming evidence to the contrary before them, so that they would
subsequently stand ashamed for having pursued the path of falsehood.
First I reproduce below the latest report dated 29/10/2018 on
this expose from the link: http://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/25115953/al-jazeera-criticises-icc-ca-ecb-responses-spot-fixing-allegations
“Television news
channel Al Jazeera has hit out at the manner in which the ECB
and CA dismissed allegations of spot-fixing involving their teams in its
documentary, The Munawar Files, adding that the ICC had failed to
answer questions about the alleged "match-fixer at the centre of our
investigation" Aneel Munawar.
The
documentary, the second on corruption in cricket by Al Jazeera, claimed
that up
to 15 international matches - several of them Tests - in the 2011-12 period had been
subject to spot-fixing. Munawar was also at the centre of their first documentary, which alleged that the
Chennai Test in December 2016 and the Ranchi Test in March 2017 had been
subject to spot-fixing by England and Australia players.
The
ICC, CA and ECB said Al Jazeera had refused
to share information regarding the various corruption allegations despite repeated
requests, and the two national boards said there was no credible evidence to
support claims of spot-fixing.
In a statement, a
spokesperson for Al Jazeera's Investigative Unit said it had been five weeks
since the channel put certain questions to the ICC, and now urged them to
answer the following:
·
"When did the ICC first became aware of Munawar and his
activities and what action was taken?
·
"What action has it taken to track down Munawar since our
first documentary was broadcast on May 27, 2018?
·
"Is Munawar on the ICC's list of known match-fixers?
·
"Is it the ICC's view that some formats of international
cricket, including Test matches, are not vulnerable to spot-fixing?
·
"Is the ICC confident that match-fixers cannot get close to
international players?
·
"How many players, international and others, has the ICC
found guilty of match-fixing or spot-fixing in the past five years?
·
"Who are those players and what were the punishments handed
out in each case?
·
"Given the ICC's limited investigatory powers, what should
be done to tackle the organised criminals behind match-fixing?"
In the documentary, Al
Jazeera claimed that the ICC's ACU had been aware of Munawar being linked to
corruption in cricket as early as 2010, when the Oval ODI between England and
Pakistan was under scrutiny and subsequently cleared of suspicion. The
documentary also showed photographs - supposedly taken in Colombo around the
2012 World T20 - in which Munawar appeared in the same frame as several top
international cricketers.
Al Jazeera, in its
statement, said the denial of the allegations from the boards "simply
failed to engage with the specific and compelling evidence".
"We are particularly
struck by what appears to be a refusal in some quarters even to accept the
possibility that players from Anglo-Saxon countries could have engaged in the
activities exposed by our programme and that the evidence we have uncovered
even merits appropriate investigation," Al Jazeera said. "Rather than
merely dismissing our findings, we would urge our critics to engage with their
detail and, if they remain determined to argue that the spot-fixes suggested by
the evidence never took place, to explain how it was that Munawar was able to
predict what would happen in 25 out of 26 cases before the sessions in question
had even begun, notwithstanding that the odds of this happening were many
millions to one."
Al Jazeera claimed that
Munawar was associated with South Asian mafia organisation D-Company, and that
they had recovered a cache of recorded phone conversations between him and clients, in
which Munawar detailed the specifics of pre-arranged spot-fixes during matches.
Al Jazeera has claimed and
continues to do so that it does not have confidence in the ICC to be able to
police the game.
"The ICC has
repeatedly 'demanded' that we hand over our evidence to them," Al Jazeera
said in its statement. "We have always said that we will hand over our
material to the relevant authorities. However, no reputable broadcaster does
this before broadcast and, furthermore, as our inquiries have progressed, we
have become increasingly concerned at the ICC's ability and resolve to police
the game; its failure to respond to our simple, factual questions shows a
disturbing lack of transparency and only aggravates those concerns.
"It is for this reason
that we are in discussions with Interpol about handing over the evidence to them.
We are not ruling out handing over material to the ICC - but feel that it must
first accept some accountability and answer the legitimate questions raised by
our investigation."
The ICC is not expected to
issue a response for the moment. Further, it is believed that Munawar does not
feature as a top corrupting threat in the 20-plus live investigations the ICC's
anti-corruption unit is currently undertaking, other than through the Al
Jazeera investigations.”
Now let us try to examine and
analyse above report of espncricinfo. com.
If one applied a little mind to it, it confirms everything brought out
in the petition. This is something that has happened thousands of miles away
from us and independent of our petition. I am sure Aljazeera would even not be
knowing about existence of such a petition. And yet it corroborates not only
the fact of cricket being nothing but an institutionalized fraud but also grave
implications of this fraud as brought out in the petition. Very briefly we
shall understand that.
We shall consider here that the
expose by Aljazeera is very unlikely to be bogus and they won’t have claimed
what they have without having supporting evidence. A channel just won’t come
out with some explosive claims out of thin air and telling white lies. And of
course, they won’t have been contemplating going to Interpol if they were not
having necessary evidence.
So
what did Aljazeera people tell us? They told us this vide their report dated
21/10/2018:
“Al Jazeera Investigative Unit's latest
documentary, Cricket's Match-Fixers: The Munawar Files, contains
recordings of an Indian match-fixer phoning in details of spot-fixes in 15
international matches to a notorious bookmaker.
The match-fixer gave a total of 26
predictions, of which all but one turned out to be accurate.
The spot-fixes were
all session fixes, predicting what would happen in a specific session of six,
eight or 10 overs.
Many of the matches involved multiple
spot-fixes. In some cases, fixes were delivered by both teams.
Due to the gravity of the accusations
and the prospect of criminal investigations, we are not, at present, naming the
fixed sessions nor the teams perpetrating the fix because that would identify
the batsmen suspected of fixing.
The 15 matches in question are:
1. Australia v England, ODI, 21.01.2011
2. Australia v Zimbabwe, ODI World Cup,
21.02.2011
3. England v Netherlands, ODI World
Cup, 22.02.2011
4. Australia v Kenya, ODI World Cup,
13.03.2011
5. England v South Africa, ODI World
Cup, 06.03.2011
6. England v Bangladesh, ODI World Cup,
11.03.2011
7. England v India, Test, 21-25.07.2011
8. South Africa v Australia, Test,
09-11.11.2011
9. Australia v New Zealand, Test,
09-12.12.2011
10. England v Pakistan, Test,
17-19.01.2012
11. England v Pakistan, Test, 25-28.01.2012
12. England v Pakistan, Test,
03-06.02.2012
13. Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe, T20I World
Cup, 18.09.2012
14. England v Afghanistan, T20I World
Cup, 21.09.2012
15. South Africa v Pakistan, T20I World
Cup, 28.09.2012 ”
Sessions of 6, 8, or 10 overs are thus known to have been
fixed in 15 international matches in 2011 and 2012 that included matches of ODI
World Cup, T–20 World Cup, and Test matches involving teams that are considered
most prestigious in international cricket. The matches mentioned are also
considered most prestigious in the game. Undoubtedly top international
cricketers from many countries mentioned must have been playing in the matches
mentioned.
Let us now see very briefly what fixing of sessions means.
Session fixing means it is fixed how many runs will be scored in the session
spanning a number of continuous overs. No one or two players can ensure that. A
lot many players on both sides including fielders have to be involved. All the
batsmen on the crease and bowlers who bowled during those overs have to be
necessarily involved. (It all lies explained in the book ‘Bettors Beware’
mentioned by the COA). And it is not only the final session score that is fixed
or can be fixed. How the scoring continues in that session ball by ball is also
to be fixed since session betting continues ball by ball throughout the
session. It can also be understood this way that desired final score can’t be
attained suddenly until the scoring is controlled throughout the session. For
example, suppose it has been fixed to score 47 runs in a session of 10 overs.
That can’t be achieved if 48 or more runs are already scored in first, say, 8
overs of that session.
Then, will this fixed session not necessarily have a bearing
on the final result of the match? It certainly will have. Whatever happens
during a part of a match is bound to affect the match as a whole. So, we can clearly see that the term
spot-fixing implies fixing of the match as a whole also. It should be rather
simple to understand it.
It is only today, after 6-7 years, that we are being told
that these prestigious international matches were fixed. But commentators must
have commented on these matches that time as if competitive matches were being
played. Many expert comments must have been made all along and columns written
analysing these matches as competitive ones for the world. Won’t coaches and captains of the team have known when fixed
cricket was being played in the open continuously for many overs? This is how
colossal and mind boggling a fraud fixed cricket is.
Is it difficult to understand that we know today about above
matches having been fixed in all probability only because someone or some
people in Aljazeera toiled hard and did some extra-ordinary work? That it
doesn’t mean that only these matches were fixed and others were not? It is like
a thief or murderer is caught for one crime but could have committed many
crimes in the past. In this case, the crimes continue to be committed, since
the fixers and actors in crime happily continue to be at large, courtesy those
in authority like the current COA of BCCI who when called upon by Providence to
deliver, chose to protect the crime and therefore the criminals through reports
such as the subject report.
What this Aljazeera report brings out is confirmation of what
the petition contains and conveys, and what stands mathematically and
scientifically proven years ago from the application of principles of
probability to the score sheets of cricket matches. The difference is that this
Aljazeera report is comparatively given better cognizance by media and
therefore people are more likely to become aware as a result of this report.
This report also tells us that the match-fixer was connected with D-company.
That confirms the serious implications of the fraud that Cricket is as brought
out in the petition.
The beauty of that scientific proof given years ago is that
it not only applied to matches in the past that time but also to the matches of
the future. It is compulsion arising out
of session betting and bracket betting that session scoring and hence the
cricket matches have to be scripted. Since session betting has been
continuing, the match-fixing has also been continuing.
I feel really glad that apart from exposing fixing in
international cricket, Aljazeera have also exposed inaction all these years and
cover given to fixing by cricket boards and ICC through their questionnaire as
reported in above espncricinfo report. That is another confirmation of the
contents of the petition. And I stick my
neck out to say that like many exposes in the past this all telling expose will
also lie buried or brushed under the carpet, howsoever easy or difficult it may
be, and unsuspecting masses will continue to cheer when their opponents get
bundled out for 104 (like in 5th ODI Ind vs WI at Thiruvananthapuram
on 1/11/2018) in an ODI for betting syndicates to make a killing on the bets of
that innings score as well as bets on outcome of the match. The COA’s of
the world would not feel ashamed of continuing to act as total morons.
I do hope that at least after going through above, COA would
realize they have been incorrect, if not outright foolish, in dismissing the
petition as bunkum through the subject report. I marvel at their audacity to do
so even when the Hon’ble Supreme Court had given due respect to the petition.
And now they stand slapped in the face by the Aljazeera expose. Rightly so.
The COA have been mischievous also in reporting on
suggestions made by me in para 6 at numbered pages 6-7 of the report. They have
quoted only a part of the suggestions made out of context. The suggestions were
made on being asked and with a view of same to be a matter of inter-active
discussion with the COA. The COA never adopted much inter-active approach in
discussion as accepted by them in the report. The alternative suggestions to
ones brought out in the report have not been mentioned and discussed. Why? Many
other suggestions have not been touched upon, why? COA have used words like
‘insisted upon’ ‘would have us do’ for the suggestions made by me. The
suggestions are and were suggestions and the use of phrases as above for same
is inappropriate. That is wilful misrepresentation in their attempt to show me
in poor light, as someone obstinate and impractical. It was during limited discussion
on suggestions in the meeting that two specific, not practically difficult,
actions were promised by Sh. Vinod Rai, and now there is no mention of same in
the report. I could never imagine that someone like Mr Vinod Rai could stoop so
low. In reference of this, I have already reproduced above the minutes of the
meeting with COA that I had e-mailed to protect me against such potential
misdemeanour by COA.
I am not saying much about the various measures suggested by
COA because that is nothing but a futile bureaucratic exercise and an eye-wash.
The suggested measures aim at dealing with stray cases of fixing by some stray players. The reality is
much different. Institutionalized fixing and fraud are things at a totally
different pedestal. The measures
suggested / recommended by COA are like a doctor suggesting a patient to take dispirin for curing terminal cancer
since without proper check-up or without applying mind he had diagnosed cancer
as headache.
This report by COA in totality could also be termed as an
exercise in taking bath while wearing a raincoat. If there was nothing
drastically wrong in cricket as concluded by COA, and nothing serious involving
reputed players has ever been detected by BCCI and ICC either, then what for
high powered Mudgal and Lodha Commissions formed and why did they make
recommendations for some stringent rules? And now COA makes some
recommendations to send strong message against fixing; Why? Clear that not only
COA but the authorities at large are victims of self-contradictions and
self-deception. Icing on the cake is that while Commissions are being formed
and they are submitting their reports, the fixed fraudulent cricket is not only
continuing unabated, but prospering with mushrooming leagues like KPL and TNPL.
Even as I draft this rejoinder, fixed matches in the interest of betting
syndicates and mafia are being played all around.
Another recent eye-opener coming to light as I draft this
rejoinder is the case of a lead investigator in 2013 IPL probe, Mr BB Misra, now
retired IPS officer. About only a couple of months earlier he is reported to
have told Indian Express that he couldn’t investigate a certain link between an
Indian player from 2011 World Cup winning squad and a bookie to a logical
conclusion because of paucity of time and because it was not in his brief. Suddenly he has taken a U-turn as he was
reported by PTI on 2/11/18 having said that time was never an issue and he
couldn’t complete his investigation because he didn’t have enough evidence.
This is the level of integrity/credibility of our chosen lead investigators in
the past! Or is it not a matter of integrity of individuals but strength of the
fraudulent forces that they can succeed in pressurizing or tempting almost any
mortal to say or do anything? Whatever it is, it is another confirmation of the
contents of the petition. And it puts one at loss as to what to make out of the
investigations done by such investigators.
And an investigator who was really succeeding with
investigations against Gurunath Meyappan, had got evidence against M S Dhoni,
the IPS officer Mr G Sampath Kumar was implicated, suspended, and shunted out of the probe. Today he stands
vindicated but the damage was done as the probe got tempered with and scuttled.
M S Dhoni continued to captain India.
Apart from suggesting cosmetic changes to organization and
functioning of ACU/ACSU that has been good for nothing all these years as above
clearly reveals, COA have also made some farcical recommendations of some
iconic players having indisputable integrity educating the players. Are there
any such players in existence? Gilchrishts and Dravids clearly stand
implicated. Tendulkar was coach/mentor of Mumbai Indians when they played and
won fixed final of IPL-10. At least
they all are under cloud. All legendary players get connected one way or
another with the institutionalized fraud that cricket is.
I have had first-hand experience of how good for nothing ACSU
/ ICC and ACU /BCCI have been. Years ago, before publication of the book Bettors
Beware, when I met Sh. Y. P. Singh, the then Head of ACSU / ICC at New Delhi in
order to explain to him how session betting meant institutionalized fixing in
cricket, he washed off his hands saying there was no proof for session betting.
My experience of that interaction has been chronicled in the book Bettors
Beware mentioned by the COA. Today session betting is openly taking place
on-line. Why is ACSU silent now? Now ACSU don’t even respond to my mails. When
fixing is so rampant, they have found it convenient to become deaf. They become
blind to existence of Cricket Insider (@theDcricket) and hunt for untraceable
Aneel Munawar. ACU / BCCI are no better
as my recent interaction with them has told me. Only a couple of days back,
someone contacted me over phone for the first time and went on to tell me that
he had contacted ACSU of ICC and when he told them that he would like to
demonstrate and explain to them that cricket was institutionally fixed, he was
disconnected. Probably these anti-corruption units are well aware that they are
redundant in the face of institutionalized fixing of cricket. Their only role
appears to be to keep a watch on players so that they don’t go astray and do
something other than the roles prescribed for them from match to match as per
pre-written scripts or don’t divulge scripts to bookies or others unauthorised.
Almost every IPL season matches are reported to be fixed and
under investigation. But then no one hears further or of any logical
conclusion. ED had told that 5 matches of IPL were under scanner for fixing in
2015. No one knows what happened thereafter. A lot many IPL matches were widely
reported to have been fixed in 2013. At least a couple of matches including
final were publicly known to have been fixed last year in 2017. No
one was ever found guilty for these numerous reportedly fixed matches. Cricket
continued to be reported upon as a competitive sport in the same breath by the
media.
I have mentioned a lot in the petition and now that I could
know from my limited sources of information. There may be a lot more reports on
fixing I am not aware of. It is only a couple of days ago that I came across a
report that Shoaib Akhtar, the Pakistani internationally famous fast bowler,
had told in 2011 that match fixing was taking place all the time. That reminds
me that around the time he retired, Adam Gilchrisht was reported to have said
that it would be naïve to think that matches were not fixed or that no fixing
was taking place. Then has all fixing been taking place in some
vacuum or at some another planet, since no match in last decade or more
has been accepted or mentioned to have been fixed by cricket administration
anywhere in the world?
COA need to ask themselves some simple questions. Is it
possible that when fixed cricket was taking place in an open ground, the
players in the ground, the team managers and coaches, the cricket experts would
fail to notice it and won’t know anything about it? If fixing were taking place
only sometimes involving only some players at the behest of some bookies – as
is popularly believed – how come that other players and coaches have always
remained silent spectator to that? How is it that when so many matches are
reported to have been fixed, no player has ever been hauled over the coals
apart from some fringe action once a while ( to misleadingly show that
anti-corruption bodies were at work ) and same players who had played in those
matches reported to have been fixed continue to play for years thereafter?
As things stand, isn’t
a very high powered SIT including sufficiently intelligent individuals of
impeccable and unimpeachable integrity the minimum necessity to go to the
bottom of the matter and bare all regarding cricket? It is a many-faceted,
multi-dimensional fraud, with mind boggling implications. Today it becomes
imperative in the larger public interest that people should know the truth from
the authorities. Almost everyone is aware of existence of fixing and corruption
in cricket, but they are aware only in a vague way. Not many are aware of its
extent and depth. At least, people deserve to know what is what.
SIT is also necessary
to unearth detailed modus-operandi of this mind-boggling fraud. While we know
that cricket is fixed and fraudulent, we don’t know the details of
modus-operandi.
Presently it is under consideration of the authorities in India
whether cricket / sports betting should be legalized or not. Necessary call in
this regard must be taken considering all pros and cons with full awareness
that cricket was a massive fraud taking place with the main purpose of looting
bettors and punters. To my mind, the poor bettors may have better opportunities
for redress of their grievances if betting were legal. This may be just one
point, the authorities will have to consider other pros and cons but they must
be fully aware as to what is what before taking decisions.
I have used up 10 precious years of my life (since I started
writing my first book ‘Inside the Boundary Line’ on the subject) and a
significant part of hard earned money in pursuing efforts to bring an end to
this colossal fraud that is continuing to great detriment of the nation and its
people. It has not been for fun and it has not been fun. To successfully file
such a detailed PIL has been very laborious and not a child’s play. It took
months, almost a year or more since I first decided to go ahead with PIL. In
fact I have been quite miserable for most of last few years. I have been trying
to tell a serious truth to the world but all have been happy in their
collective degradation, mainly because media in self-interest has been happy in
continuing to be the preacher of falsehood selling a massive fraud as a
competitive sport. It is not a joke for one man to take on combined might of
all the institutions that join hands in self-interest for continuation of a
public fraud. I doubt if there is any such
precedent in human history. The real possibility of being harmed by the
betting mafia was also always there. Still I took this up since I could see
that there was no one else to take this up, and since I have felt concerned
about far reaching and very serious national, political, and international
implications of this colossal fraud all along. In the process I have not only
become a target for the establishment, but have also become a pariah not only
in the society but also among family and friends. Still I have continued in the
hope that Truth will prevail one day and a blow to this massive fraud that goes
on with the active and passive complicity of mighty institutions and hundreds
of mighty celebrities and political leaders whenever that happens shall give
rise to a sort of revolution that will bring an end to the culture of crony
capitalism that is today ruining all institutions slowly but surely. But
probably that was not to be.
I have no one else but myself to blame for my miseries since
I went ahead though aware of the warning by the bard: ‘ sachchi
baat kahi thi maine, logon ne sooli pe chadaya…….’
Those who are today
supervising and looking over the continuation of colossal fraud through cricket
are probably unaware or unconcerned that they are sounding the death knell of
the very institutions they are part of today.
Nothing exposes the present Modi government in India on its
claims of zero tolerance against corruption more than its wilful protection to
this continuing massive public fraud through institutionalized fixing in
cricket despite matter having been brought to notice of PM and the government
repeatedly. It goes without saying that the present finance minister of India,
Arun Jaitley, has been one of the kingpins of this fraud through his long
association with cricket administration and IPL. Unfortunately, through this
report even COA have acted as stooge of the fraudulent and rogue Establishment.
I am already 61 and my time may be up anytime, or my
faculties may cease to be what they were or are. Also life has its own
uncertainties. Even otherwise, I don’t know how longer I can go on like this or
what else I can do. Question also arises why I should go on when whole world is
happy with this manifestation of human degradation. But then is the world of
intellectuals the whole world? Masses are not even aware since they are not
told the truth. As Providence would have it, the COA failed to understand and
appreciate the contents and spirit of the petition knowingly or unknowingly and
failed to rise to the occasion. They rather chose to be ordinary mortals
looking after only self-interest and self-preservation.
It is incidental that I am alive today and drafting this
rejoinder. Life has no guarantee. It was not for me but for the world to act after
publication of the book ‘Bettors Beware,’ rather after publication of my first
book on the subject ‘Inside the Boundary Line’ and my first Press Conference
thereafter in January, 2013, to take on this massive fraud. Alas! The world has
miserably failed itself.
I appeal to the good sense of the COA to kindly excuse me for
my anger that has been natural and well placed. In the final analysis
individuals and their egos don’t matter. What matters is what we could get out
of life and what we could do for the humanity, especially from position of authority or knowledge that we got blessed with. We all
have same destination. Burial ground / crematorium remains the last destination
for us.
Today COA may feel intoxicated with power, but tomorrow
history may rightly judge them as villains.
And if I had been making false noise publicly knowingly or
unknowingly about cricket being institutionally fixed for last 7 years through
my books, published interviews, and press conferences, I deserved to be
publicly hanged for harming the great game of cricket by bringing it into
disrepute and for falsely poisoning people’s minds all these years.
Those who die - almost
on daily basis in J&K - as a result of terror activities, substantially
funded by dirty money (lakhs of crores of rupees per year) earned by betting
syndicates and mafia like D-company, may not be our nears and dears; but they are
and had been men and women of flesh and blood, nears and dears of some. Only
very recently on 1/11/2018 even a BJP leader and his brother were killed in
Kishtwar.
And like drug addicts,
there are millions of betting-addicts who get trapped jointly by betting mafia
and cricketing world to lose their wealth almost on daily basis through out and
out scripted and fixed cricket. Most of them remain unaware of how they are
trapped and looted, and those aware don’t know what to do. While the society is
concerned for the drug addicts, it remains unconcerned for the millions of
victims of cricket betting. To continue to suffer becomes their fate. Those
millions are also our brethren, men of flesh and blood.
Any scope for me to doubt that cricket was a colossal fraud
totally vanished when I was told by a responsible friend on the 17th
July, 2018, later in the day after the meeting with the COA, that in a chance
meeting a ward of a Cricket Test player who played for India in the 90’s had
told him (the friend) that contents of my books and petition were all correct
since that player had told that ward that the players just played as per some
orders and no competitive cricket on their own. I was also surprised a bit to
know how old the continuing fraud was. It could well be older than the 90’s
also. Unbelievable, but true! Hope that COA or anyone won’t quote me saying
that I considered it as evidence. I am fully aware that it is no evidence till
people deposed officially, but it did further confirm and
corroborate for me what was already so clear otherwise.
God alone knows how much longer this institutionalized fraud
– a very sizeable manifestation of human degradation – will continue. Though
same is not necessary, my challenge as mentioned in the petition stands, from
recordings of any match (whether a league match or an international match) over
last decade or so, I can show any panel of cricket experts or jury how scripted
cricket and not competitive cricket was taking place all along.
To bring home the
import of how big a scam the continuous institutionalized fixing of cricket for
decades is, it would suffice to say that it is a scam hundreds times bigger
than the currently much publicized alleged Rafale scam in India both in
magnitude and reach, and many times bigger than all the scams known to man till
date put together including 2G scam which Mr. Vinod Rai himself was instrumental
in exposing.
Cricket being said to
be second religion to Indians, the fact of cricket being a fraud also has a
tremendous emotional bearing for the masses across all religions.
Through this rejoinder
I urge the COA to come out of slumber, go through the petition once again and
this rejoinder word by word with an open intelligent truthful mind and review
their decision and revise the report in the larger public interest. In case
they still have any genuine doubts about what has been stated or in understanding
and appreciating what is what, I offer to come and explain across the table.
That Cricket is a colossal institutionalized fraud is as sure
as Sun rises in the East or 2+2 = 4. No autocratic statements can keep the
truth under wraps for eternity, even though it may not be easy for one to
comprehend the harsh truth since it shatters what one has been made to believe
all his life and believing what one has grown up, more so without knowing at
least a bit about betting, especially session betting, which is the cause
behind this fraud.
Aljazeeras may go to sleep over their own reports (media and
the cricketing world are already sleeping), the crusaders may take U turns like
BB Misra did or may go into oblivion; there may not be any further reports
about matches being fixed; viewers may continue to bite nails while regarding
absurd wilful performances by teams to lose as competitive cricket; media and
cricket experts may continue to sell a colossal fraud as a great sport filling
columns and air-time with reports, analyses, and statistics and creating fake heroes;
there may not be any more outbursts like Amir Sohail’s or Dirk Nannes’; twitter
handles like @theDcricket may stop tweeting, delete their tweets, their twitter
handles may be suspended, abandoned, or manipulated; Cricket administrators of
the world may continue to act blind or go back on their words; the whole world
may join to echo COA’s decision that cricket was not an institutionalized fraud
and contents of writ petition (Civil) 1163 / 2017 were nothing but
unsubstantiated sweeping allegations; everyone including me may go dead quiet; but score books of cricket matches will
continue to speak to those who wish to listen and objective application of
basic principles of probability to these ( as detailed in the book ‘Bettors
Beware’ ) shall continue to illuminate the world with the truth of cricket
being a massive institutionalized fraud as long as it continues to be so.
Since the subject report of COA has been uploaded on BCCI’s
website, the fair play would require this rejoinder also be uploaded alongside.
In fact, they must have uploaded the petition in reference to which this report
has been made, before uploading the report. Had they done o, many intelligent
minds could straight away see COA’s bluff. There has not been any response from
COA even to my specific request to them to do so after they had uploaded the
subject report on BCCI’s website.
Let people judge for themselves after this rejoinder is
uploaded.
Thank you.
(Atul Kumar)
CC: Registrar, Supreme Court of India in reference to
references above and CA no.
4235/ 2014. He
may please connect it and put it up to the appropriate bench that is
considering the
report of COA under reference.
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